Volvo Findings! (What have you found on FB/Craiglist/Kijiii/other)?

[CIK7]

The non-runners are the real deals - but you need the experience to figure out what is wrong and know what it needs to get going again from a non-running inspection - thats the art form.

DIY is good therapy, keep one away from expensive shrinks, it works better then apples.
To top it off you got something to show for it in the end.

Diy is my favorite way to care for my car. I get to see exactly how my car is set up and helps me better understamd what its got and how it runs. Only thing i have done by my uncles shop are the tires.

[abscate]

Dirk and Evan are the masters of the cheap car turned bargain. Its easy to brag that you make a couple thou on a flip, but eventually you get burned. These guys find the gems and turn them into the family cars - which pay them $600 a month in no car payment. thats the smart money, not flipping.

[erikv11]

Here's what I paid for the ones that needed major work when I bought them :

$150 - 95 R (engine was in pieces in the seller's garage - found through MVS - the seller lived 3 blocks from me!)
$450 - 98 V70 GLT (found on CL; this was running but billowing smoke out the tailpipe)
$650 - 98 S70 NA (found on CL; blown head gasket, replaced engine gave it to my mother-in-law, still running)

My kid just drove the 98 back from college yesterday, over the last 245 miles of the drive the averages were 70 mph and 30.7 mpg!

[bmdubya1198]

My daily driver V70R was $300, bought with a bad transmission. Manual swapped, among other things, it's a joy to drive aside from the low boost (will be fixed with an upgraded 19T soon). My previous DD '98 V70 GLT was also $300, front end damage... fixed it up fairly quickly aside from a surprise electrical issue... turned out to be a broken connector on the upper right of the fan. Easy fix in the end.

My old 740 Turbo M46 was $300 with a bad transmission and it wasn't running... eventually got it running and driving (I think I was like $800 into that car in the end), traded for a Miata, which I traded for another Miata, which I sold for $3,250 and dumped a good chunk of that into the R.
My S90 was $100, "bad transmission" which was solved with a drain & fill and filter change. That car still sits, I just changed the rear cam seal yesterday. Runs and drives great, just needs a front O2 sensor and suspension refresh.
My 850 was free, clean title and all! Parted it out and made my money back real quick (spent $50 for the dolly rental to drag it home).
'01 S60 was $235, also a "bad transmission" which turned out to be a broken passenger side axle. $53 at Pepboys later, and it runs and drives. I'm replacing the radiator, timing belt, PCV, and some other things and plan to list that in the next couple weeks... I need it gone to pay for some V70R upgrades!
Then the '03 S60 was $1k. Runs and drives great, had a leaky cam seal when I bought it. Did the PCV last week and replaced all the cam seals, so far so good! It just needs an antenna ring to remedy the occasional "start prevented" message on the DIM.

Then that wraps up the cheap Volvos... the XC90 I think was $6,300... good deal for what it is! Anyway, I think I've done pretty well with my cheap Volvo adventures.

[erikv11]

Awesome.

Yeah I paid for the S60 R too, $4200.

[bmdubya1198]

Awesome.

Yeah I paid for the S60 R too, $4200.

Still not a bad deal!

[MoVolvos]

2007 XC90 V8 w/ 163K, 3rd Owner
https://raleigh.craigslist.org/pts/d/ca ... 53828.html

[scot850]

Seems like a good price. I nearly bought one once but was scared off by 2 major potential issues with the V8 engines. Both mean engine out to repair and $3000 bills for each.

Neil.

[bmdubya1198]

Seems like a good price. I nearly bought one once but was scared off by 2 major potential issues with the V8 engines. Both mean engine out to repair and $3000 bills for each.

Neil.

The balance shaft issue isn't engine out, and it only really applies to 2005-early 2006 models. Which other repair are you referring to?

[scot850]

Cylinder head oil leaks from the rear which are hidden and drain into the starter motor frying it. Also front pulleys and tensioner coming loose and damaging the engine. Both jobs highlighted by a senior mechanic at Volvo dealer I know. When he told me about this, he had just found a way to repair the latter issue without removing the engine, but reckoned it was probably easier to remove the engine to do the repair.

Neil.